Don’t throw way efforts made on joint statement: Nami

Don’t throw way efforts made on joint statement: Nami

TRNC’s Foreign Minister, Ozdil Nami has said that all the efforts exerted on formulating a mutually acceptable joint statement which would pave the way to renewed Cyprus negotiation should not be wasted. He added that if there should be a deadlock over the Cyprus problem, the UN Secretary-General would not be appointing a new special advisor to Cyprus and the Cyprus problem would be shelved, so reported Turkish Cypriot daily ‘Yeni Duzen’ on Friday.

Contrary to press reports earlier last week, Alexander Downer has said that his contract as Special Envoy has been renewed for a further six months.

Nami said that the contents of the joint statement “satisfied the sensitivities” of both sides and that he believed that the letter sent by President Anastasiades to the UN Secretary General “has no buyers in the international community”.

“If the Greek Cypriot leader has regretted about the point to which the joint declaration came and experiences difficulties with his coalition partners, the UN must not permit this”, he stated, adding that the sides must sit at the negotiating table and focus on the solution with good will and the leaders should “respond to the demands of the peoples and the civilian organizations in both sides”.

He declared that Turkey supported the solution of the Cyprus problem and that the Turkish side has done its bit, the ball, Nami said, was now in the Greek Cypriot’s court.

Speaking to Turkish Cypriot daily ‘Havadis’ Nami said that even if there is no agreement on the joint statement because of a “couple of words”, the “important issues on which agreement has been reached could not be thrown into the garbage”.

Nami noted that he had had dinner with the UN Secretary-General’s special adviser on Cyprus Alexander Downer before he left and discussed the issue of the joint declaration.

Nami argued that “we are at a serious turning point” in the Cyprus problem and that “we are playing in the extra time”. He expressed the view that the UN might not, any longer, insist on a solution the Cyprus problem.

Nami said that the UN was disappointed because despite all the efforts made to reach an agreement on a joint declaration, this had not been achieved.

He also said that critical statements made by President Anastasiades about Alexander Downer had caused discomfort. Nami described Downer’s latest visit to Cyprus as “extremely important”, because whatever responses he gets from both sides will be reflected in the written report he will submit to the UN Security Council.